Middle East/North African Lit discussion

I am reading A Persian Requiem (Suvashan) by Simin Daneshvar for the 2014 Iran focus since my library owns a copy. If anyone else wants to join me, please do!

a little background

A little research on the web tells me a bit about the author and Iran's history. (I've used Wikipedia primarily, please let me know if there are conflicting sources)

Simin Daneshvar
Simin Daneshvar was born in 1921 in Shiraz, and was educated at a bilingual school. She started college at the University of Tehran in 1938 and was in college during the occupation of Iran by the Allied forces during World War II, which is when her novel Suvashan/Persian Requiem is set. In 1941 her father died, and she began supporting herself by writing for Radio Tehran and local newspapers. In 1948 her first collection of short stories was published. She completed her PhD in 1949, and in 1950 married another Iranian writer, Jalal Al-e Ahmad. In 1952 she went to Stanford University in the USA on a Fullbright scholarship and studied with author Wallace Stegner. When she returned to Iran she joined the faculty of the University of Tehran.

Political situation
A constitutional revolution in the early 20th century resulted in the first national parliament. There were Russian and British occupations before and during World War I. In the 1920s Reza Shah Pahlavi, a military leader, came to power as the Shah. He tried to modernize the country; public education and urbanization increased, his administration was modeled on secular western politics . While a UK company controlled most of the country’s oil resources, Reza Shah tried to balance influence of western nations by obtaining technological assistance from other European countries, including Germany and Italy. During World War II this was a problem for the allies. In 1941 Britain & the USSR forced the resignation and exile of Reza Shah in favor of his son Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1951 the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) named Mohammad Mossadegh as Prime Minister, and Mossadegh nationalized the oil industry, which had been controlled by the British. The Shah fled Iran, but returned in 1953 when the US & UK staged a coup d’etat against Mossadegh.

Daneshvar
In 1968 Daneshvr became the chair of the Iranian writers union. Her novel Suvashan, set during the occupation of Iran during World War II, was published in 1969. It is the first novel by a woman published in Iran, and is written from the perspective of Zari, the wife in a land-owning family in the southwest part of Iran. Suvashan refers to an ancient mourning ritual. In English, the title has been translated as A Persian Requiem. The author’s husband died in 1969. In addition to teaching and writing, Daneshvar also translated works from English. She resigned from the University of Tehran in 1979. She died in 2012.

Thanks Ardene , I want to read this novel but I do not have a copy , if I reach one I will join you :)

N.B
I added a link to this thread in the challenge page , hope more will join you :)

I have this Ardene, and i want to read it, but i am a little overwhelmed at teh moment with how much i have stacked in front of me. :)

But i'm glad you opened this thread, because i will be back and i'm sure others will join in sooner than me.

Hi,

I also love to read it. I'll join soon.
Too busy for exams.
:(

Hi Ardene,
I read this years ago, and found it well worth rereading. I don't have it with me now, but might someday contribute to this thread. Thank you for opening it, and I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Nile daughter, thanks for posting the link to the thread so people can find it.

Marieke, Sajjad, Melanie, join in as you can, and thanks for stopping by. I've read about 5 chapters and am finding it quite readable so far. I know there are things I'm missing because I don't know some of the cultural stories. I'm curious about whether the group read of Shahnameh might flesh that out some later.

My copy came in from another library so I might start it tomorrow!

Good luck , I marked the book as "currently reading " , hopefully I will be able to join you at some point .

Welcome Jenny! Hope you and Nile daughter will jump in as you can.

I seem to have stalled a bit in my reading, (too much other stuff in the pot) but hope to get back to it this weekend.

Hi,

Hopefully I took my exam!
Now, I think I have enough time to join.

Welcome sajjad!

Trying to summarize without spoiling –

Chapter 1: At the wedding of the governor’s daughter Zari is asked for a “loan” of her emerald earrings for the bride & Zair’s husband Yusef (and other landowners) are asked to sell their harvest to the occupying army. Zari complies, Yusef refuses (as he has done for the past two harvests.)

Chapter 2: The morning after the wedding at Zari & Yusef’s home, Yusef’s elder brother Abol-Ghassem comes to visit. He is a parliamentary deputy & wants Yusef to cooperate & sell his crops, not keeping back anything for those who work the land. Abol-Ghassem appears to think that their father favored Yusef, even though Yusef is the youngest.

Ameh, Yusef & Abol-Ghassem’s older sister, speaks in support of Yusef.

Chapter 3: At a party that same evening to celebrate the wedding Zari is thanked for her gift & Yusef & Captain Singer trade barbs.

Chapter 4: Two tribesmen disguised as women come to visit. Marek Rostam Khan & Malik Sohrab want Yusef to sell them food. Yusef accuses them of wanting the food to sell to the British in exchange for arms. The tribesmen argue that the British prevent them from following their traditional way of life, and say they sold their herds to the British when the animals were near death because they couldn’t take them to graze. Yusef tries to convince them to turn away from fighting & settle down and teach their people new skills. He offers them land to settle on. Eventually Yusef agrees to sell them only enough food to feed their people.

Hi Ardene,

Thanks very much, that helped.
I am now finishing Ch2.

You wrote Yusef and Abol-Ghassem are from different mothers. Do you tell this based on next chapters than 2?

Sajjad,I will have to look at the book - I know it was fairly early on, but I'm not sure what chapter. Abol-Ghassam mentions Yusef's mother by name, and how She replaced his mother in their father's affections.

Sajjad, I may have misread the text. Chapter 2 & Chapter 6 both include some discussion of the father's mistress, but when i looked closer, it doesn't say that Yusef is her son - I think I made it up.

I've also begun reading the Shanameh, the official read for February, and there are a lot of names I'm recognizing from it. More about that later.

I read the book today. One thing I noticed is how much the characters like to wax eloquently, give little sermons... it reminds me of my Dad actually, ha!

A repeated theme seems to be the loss of power - too many people in control, not enough control to take, whether that is through trade, property, or societal expectations.

I've finished the book, and enjoyed it greatly. Before I write a review, however, I'm going to post a few questions for discussion.

My biggest question is about the mourning ritual of Savushun - what is it, how does it function as a backdrop for the novel? It is definitely related to the story of Siyavash, and I'm looking forward to reading about that in the Shanameh this month. Particularly since the mistress in Savushun has the same name as the stepmother in Siyavash's story.

I'm also noticing that the tribesmen in the story have the sames names as a legendary father and son from the Shanameh, Rostam and Sohrab. So I may come back and comment after I've read those stories.


*******

Which of the characters thoughts and actions did you find most compelling & why?

Why does Yusef bring Kolu into his home? Why is Kolu unable to adjust to the household? What do you think a farmer's perspective on the occupation might be? Why isn't the voice of the peasant articulated in the novel?

I remain confused about the discussion between Yusef and Rostam and Sohrab in chapter 4. Why does Yusef accuse them of exploiting their own tribesman?

Good job Ardene,
sorry for being slow.

I am at one third of the book and about Yusef and Abol-Qhasem khan's mother,
In Ch6 I saw Amme mentioned that his father never bring Soudabe and Mohammad Hossein with him until BiBi left his house and both Abol-Qhasem khan and Amme had gotten married.

But there is nothing about Yusef.

Any comment?

Sorry I’ve been absent so long. I’ve been trying to read & absorb the tale of Seyavash from the Shanameh, as well as working to read The Columbia Sourcebook of American Muslims for a discussion February 25th.

I don’t find anywhere in Persian Requiem that states that Abol-Ghassem & Yusef are ½ brothers, or Yusef is Soudabeh’s son. I think I put together Abol-Ghassem’s jealousy of Yusef & his anger at his father for taking Soudabeh as a mistress and came up with a story in my head. Sorry about that. And thank your for reading the text and challenging me – I would have walked away from the story with an erroneous impression otherwise.

I do think Daneshvar is using the tale of Seyavash as background informing her novel, with Yusef in the place of Seyavash, the righteous hero who is killed and from whose son Khosrow comes a war of vengeance against those responsible for his death. Chapter 21 includes Zari’s “remembrance” of the story, and Yusef and Zari’s son is named Khosrow, just like Seyavash’ son.

I also think Daneshvr wrote a rich novel with complex characters, all struggling to survive and thrive in a difficult situation. Zari is my favorite. Although I think she agrees with Yusef in principle that Iran needs to be governed by its own, she is somehow more aware (or perhaps more afraid) of the consequences Yusef’s words and actions will bring. I like Yusef with his stance of non-cooperation with the British and his sense of responsibility for the peasants working his land, but he doesn’t count the cost of his integrity. I even felt sympathy with Abol-Ghassam, who I think truly loves his brother in addition to wanting to prosper financially & at least have a hand in governing, and at the same time wants to keep his family safe.

Anyone have a comment about the names of the tribesmen, Rostam & Sohrab (like Rostam and & Sohrab in the Shanameh?) Or am I reaching on that one?